krystalicia_'s reviews
177 reviews

Ao Haru Ride, Vol. 1 by Io Sakisaka

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funny lighthearted reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Loved the anime and already loving the manga series. This volume follows the initial meeting and reunification of Futaba and Kou who had to move away due to unknown family reasons at the moment and seems to have changed a lot since the last time Futaba saw him. We get a glimpse of how catty people can be in high school, seeing how Futaba feels like she needs to act effeminate so that she doesn’t get attention from her male classmates and becomes more likeable to the other girls in her grade, but when Kou comes back, who now goes by Mabuchi instead of Tanaka like she knew him as, she realizes that she was changing herself for all the wrong reasons. Loved the brief intro we get to all of the characters, especially my favorite little ball of sunshine Kominato. Loved this and can’t wait to keep reading.
Circa by Devi S. Laskar

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challenging reflective sad fast-paced

3.75

Oof, this book had a lot of emotions. Really at the core of it, it was a book about grief, loss, and the need to be understood. This book follows Heera/Dia through her life as teenager/early adult and her relationship to the Grimaldi siblings, Marie and Marco/Crash. It was interesting seeing their interactions and how she was able to be her true and authentic self, and how her parents interpreted that relationship, especially as she got older and her relationship with Marco/Crash changed and flowed over time. 

There was a lot of cultural context that I won’t ever understand from the Indian/Indian-American standpoint, but could definitely understand from the child of immigrants standpoint. For example, Heera did have an arranged marriage and since I’ve personally heard both the pros and cons of this, it didn’t really impact my view of the story. What I did find incredibly fascinating was how relationships had changed with her parents as she now had to abide by the rules of her in-laws who were very concerned about outside perceptions. It was beautiful to see Heera eventually take her life into her own hands, with her parents eventual support, and live her life how she wanted to with the people she wanted to.

I’m not a fan of second person perspective writing so I will admit that at some points, it took me a bit out of the story, but it never really took away from the story. It was a super easy read and easy to get lost in.
Neruda on the Park by Cleyvis Natera

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Holy hell was this a wild ride. I have to say, this book took some turns that I couldn’t have predicted on the best of days. A couple things to get out of the way: I loved how complex all of the characters were, especially our two leading ladies Luz and Eubelis. There were times where I wanted to rip my hair out because of their decisions, but then they’d say or do something that would send me into an emotional spiral. While the catalyst for the story is based in gentrification of their home in Nothar Park (essentially Little DR in New York), the story really emphasizes the importance of choices and the autonomy to make them and sit with them, especially for women.

Also, this is a Hudson hate page. I didn’t trust him as soon as he showed up, and his friends suck just as much. They emulate couple of things: 1) just because someone looks like you, doesn’t mean they’re for you; 2) for some people, money rules all; and 3) Domestic voluntourism exists because imagine painting a mural when no one asked you, in a place that doesn’t belong to you, and then getting mad when it’s defaced for all the wrong reasons.

This book touches on so much more including the relationship between husband and wife, mother and daughter, and how culture and generational trauma impacts all of that. In the first 10% of the book, I truly wanted to just hold Eubelis and allow her to just feel everything that she thought she couldn’t and as the book progressed and you say her psychological deterioration, the want to hold her and shake sense into her intensified. It was honestly so interesting to have a character be so illogical and so absolutely logical at the same time and her complexity was amazing.



Wash Day Diaries by Jamila Rowser

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funny inspiring lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

This was everything. The art? Gorgeous. The characters? Relatable. The friendship? Unbreakable. As an an avid manga reader, I loved reading this graphic novel and seeing the manga influence in the art and storytelling. The story felt super real and in the city scenes, you can feel the city vibes and honestly, it made me a little nostalgic for all the best reasons.
Each story followed one of the characters with the last chapter was a beautiful culmination of friendship and love and I’m obsessed with it all. The stories touch on self-intimacy, sex positivity, familial turbulence, mental health, relationship abuse, but over all the bond and healing between their friend group made my heart so happy.
Also??? The artistry in the actual hair processes was breathtaking??? Like please grab this comic because I’m legitimately obsessed.
This World Does Not Belong to Us by Natalia García Freire

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challenging dark sad medium-paced

3.5

Ok, I’m going to be honest, this went 100% over my head and that is definitely a me problem and not a book problem. The book itself was unsettling and uncomfortable in the best possible way which is good because this was definitely out of my comfort zone.

At the heart of the story was a strife-filled relationship between Lucas and his father as he returns back to his childhood home. The hate was palpable and I kept reading in hopes that the slimy feeling would pass, but to no avail. It’s haunting, it’s dark, but so absolutely beautifully written and it truly showcases the absolute worst about people. Short but so difficult to put down.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

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fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

***Disclaimer: All forms of autistic experiences are not the exact same. There are varying levels of severity and this book showcases one person’s story. I know that this is an extremely common book to be recommended for stories centering mental health/disability and as a reminder, this is a great start but don’t stop there. Unfortunately, I read about the controversy surrounding this book after I finished reading. The author himself is not autistic, nor did he do research on the developmental disability itself to ensure that the story was accurate. Please look into books written by autistic authors or at the very least, an author who has done adequate research to ensure better representation.***

This book has been on my radar for so long and up until I did further research, I was glad I finally got to read it. Books with neurodivergent characters in general are few and far between so to read a book from an autistic boy’s perspective was not only incredibly interesting, but also a bit of an eye opener. I loved seeing the the world through Christopher’s eyes, and I loved reading into the subtext of what he saw that he didn’t understand at the time. 

Possibly my favorite thing about the book was something I wasn’t expecting: the conversation about keeping information hidden to “protect” you kids from reality. His father *showed* Christopher love, compassion, and patience, but he was still selfish, abusive, and was never honest with him. His mother struggled with Christopher, sure, but she did keep trying in her own way. Neither parent was perfect, and both were pretty toxic, but I’ll be thinking about that whole dynamic and it’s implications for a while.
Letters to Home: A Memoir (& Other Stories by an ABC) by Janette Wu

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emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.25

“As you were growing up, you were taught SOHCAHTOA and how to dissect an earthworm, but you were never taught how to safely process emotions and guilt. Instead, you learned that crying is a weakness and showing emotions is your Achilles heel. You never learned that your greatest strength is allowing yourself to feel.”

I picked up this book because as the eldest daughter of immigrants, the synopsis spoke to me. Though I myself am not an ABC, I saw myself parts of myself in Janette’s story. I saw myself when she was explored her imposter syndrome, when she struggled with the language barriers with loved ones, and when she sometimes had to straddle two very different cultures.

I loved the way the book was written and thought the letters at the beginning of every chapter allowed it to feel really personal and almost like she was writing the letters to us through the eyes of her family. It kept pulling me in and made me want to continue reading to get to the next chapter. I enjoyed how unique it was and having drawings spliced throughout added in an extra layer of vulnerability and insight into Janette’s through process.

Thank you Book Sirens for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The Portuguese Immigrant: Atlantic Heritage Story by Devin Meireles

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informative slow-paced

2.0

When I first saw this cover, I requested it because something about seeing a man that looks like he can be my uncle really pulled at my heartstrings. Though I’m a daughter of immigrants, hearing about another families story really sparked my interest, especially because I’m more familiar with the process to get into the US from a Latin American/Caribbean perspective, so I was excited to learn from a very different perspective.

Books like this are a little hard for me to rate because you can tell this is deeply personal for the author and his family. The author spliced commentary and emotion in what can come off as a living diary for his family. While I loved getting to know more about each of the characters, I struggled a bit with the writing style. At times, I felt like it read more as a newspaper story than a history of a family which made it hard to read. All in all, if you would like to get more insight on the immigration process from Europe to Canada, this would be a great read for you.

Thank you Love Books Tours and the author for a gifted copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

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hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

2.0

I wanted to like this, I really did, but my god was this a struggle. This book confirmed a few things for me.
  1. I don’t like books where the main focus is romance
  2. I hate fictional books with politics 
  3. Royalty was never something I reached for, and something I would continue to avoid
  4. Audiobooks really just aren’t for me
Truthfully, I though this book would make me realize that I did actually like these things, but alas, here we are, almost a month after I started it begging for the book to end and put me out of my misery OR give me the payoff I was really aiming for.
I think what immediately turned me off to this book was that it was sold as a enemies to lovers, when that was honestly pretty misleading. By chapter like three they were already hooking up and I’m like….??? Ok.
I also think I heavily disliked how it was very Republicans bad, Democrats good. Like I find it really hard to immerse myself in the story when it’s trying to pretend that Democrats are much more progressive than they actually are. Pretty idealistic and I just couldn’t believe it, especially because of the timeline we actually lived and where we are in the world today.
There’s a chance I would have really loved this if I read this a few years ago, but it just really wasn’t for me.
P.s. - this could just be me but making Alex half Mexican didn’t add anything to the plot for me. I feel like their could have been an interesting conversation about immigration reform or how fucked that system is, or even how Latine and other historically excluded groups live day to day and how the country contributes to that in a daily basis, but instead it came off more as pandering into diversity. I also realize it was meant to be a romance so maybe the idea was to steer away from these heavier topics, but if the choice was a romance about the First Son and the Prince of England, it feels strange not to include it.
Pushing Through The Cracks by Emily Johnson

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informative reflective sad slow-paced

2.5

I can recognize a book’s importance while also recognizing that it wasn’t for me. I picked up this book because I do enjoy a good memoir and have always loved reading books with complex mental health aspects, and in terms of the latter, this book definitely delivered. 

The reader gets a very in depth experience of what it’s like to live with someone who has crippling OCD and social anxiety, someone who has depression and a gambling addiction, and someone who suffers from alcohol addiction, and the person who carries all of their burdens. I think it’s that last part that I struggled a bit with this book. While the memoir was extremely informative and provided great discussion points for how health systems fail their people, especially regarding mental health, that’s all it felt like sometimes, lots and lots of information. At times, it did become extremely repetitive and I personally felt like it could have been 100 pages less and still be just as impactful. Additionally, though it’s a memoir, the focus seemed to be much more on the men in her life, than on herself, which I guess it’s pretty telling in itself.

All in all, I think if you know someone who suffers from some form of mental illness, this could be helpful to get an idea of what those real experiences could be like. If you do choose to read this book, please be mindful of the trigger warnings at the beginning of the book to make sure you’re in the right headspace to read it.